8 Times Hollywood Didn't Care What You Think

8. Making The Hobbit Into A Trilogy

The Hobbit Martin Freeman
New Line Cinema

What an absolute clusterf*ck the production of The Hobbit turned out to be. After first being in pre-production with Guillermo del Toro at the helm, the project fell apart and was later picked up by Peter Jackson - only for Warner Bros. to impose an insanely rushed schedule so they could make up for lost time.

Worst still, as another money-recouping measure, the confirmed two-parter was then split into three movies only months before the release of the middle instalment, Desolation of Smaug.

The result was Jackson and co. having to not only butcher the source material further (on top of the fact fans were notably annoyed that Del Toro had been booted off the project in the first place), but the latter two movies were loaded with CG, terrible jokes, a studio-mandated elf-dwarf relationship, godawful pacing and a feeling that all those involved wanted it to be over.

The Hobbit, one of the most beloved children's books of all time, dragged kicking and screaming onto the silver screen as bells and whistles were surgically sewn on for all to see.

Horrific.

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Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.